hawkmoth caterpillar (unknown manufacturer)

Walkaround of a hawkmoth caterpillar (e.g., hornworm), the larva of a moth in the family Sphingidae, by an unknown manufacturer. I stumbled upon this recently on eBay. When I purchased the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] years ago, the novelty store also had a hawkmoth caterpillar. I assumed they were from the same company, so when I bought this on eBay I assumed it was by Sun Wai, but there is no indication of such (also, it's noticeably smaller than the Sun Wai puss moth caterpillar). So I have no idea who made it. If you look at the last image there is something under the 'Made in China' stamp that could be a brand but it doesn't look familiar. There is also no year stamped on it, but it strikes me for something from the 1980s or 1990s, maybe even earlier.

The figure is 19 cm (almost 8 inches) so it is clearly smaller than the Sun Wai figure. It is not attributable to a given species but it's probably in the 2-3:1 range for most sphingid larvae.

The figure is soft and is in fact a 'squeaky' toy, which also makes me wonder if this was originally a dog chew toy rather than a traditional animal toy/figurine?!?

Regardless of who made it and when it was released, this is clearly something that someone like me cannot pass up. And I love presenting these novelty-style reviews of odd, obscure, and unfamiliar figures!

On to the pics:

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Huge and nice caterpillar :)

widukind wrote:

Huge and nice caterpillar :)

Andreas, do you recognize that stamp in the last photo as a potential manufacturer?

bmathison1972 wrote:

widukind wrote:

Huge and nice caterpillar :)

Andreas, do you recognize that stamp in the last photo as a potential manufacturer?

Oh no, but i cant read it :)

widukind wrote:

bmathison1972 wrote:

widukind wrote:

Huge and nice caterpillar :)

Andreas, do you recognize that stamp in the last photo as a potential manufacturer?

Oh no, but i cant read it :)

I can't either, and it's actually worse on the figure. The photo actually highlights features I cannot see (even under an actual microscope! LOL). It looks like the letters MAKE IN or HAKE IN. Not sure if that suggests something?

bmathison1972 wrote:

widukind wrote:

bmathison1972 wrote:

widukind wrote:

Huge and nice caterpillar :)

Andreas, do you recognize that stamp in the last photo as a potential manufacturer?

Oh no, but i cant read it :)

I can't either, and it's actually worse on the figure. The photo actually highlights features I cannot see (even under an actual microscope! LOL). It looks like the letters MAKE IN or HAKE IN. Not sure if that suggests something?

In China are now any manufactures for very large animal figurines :)